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Donald Trump ran for president on a promise to "drain the swamp." I agreed with that particular statement. Unfortunately, he didn't mean what he said. The recent actions of Trump and several White House officials prove this administration hasn't drained the swamp — it has become the swamp.
But that doesn't mean Congress can't drain the swamp ourselves.
Nuclear anxiety is on the rise. While President Trump has denied reports that he sought a "nearly tenfold"increase in America's nuclear arsenal, there is no disputing that the risk of a nuclear catastrophe is escalating on his watch.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D | Los Angeles County) sent a letter to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Ed Royce (D-California) calling for Administration officials to testify before the Foreign Affairs Committee on the Oct. 4 attack in Niger that resulted in the deaths of four members of U.S. Special Operations Forces.
In the letter, Mr. Lieu writes:
Democrats in Congress say it would be "illegal" and "catastrophic" if President Donald Trump were to conduct a preemptive nuclear strike on North Korea, and they're calling on Republicans to be far more vocal on this issue.
Up in the hills between the San Fernando Valley and West Los Angeles, the intersection of iconic Mulholland Drive and Laurel Canyon Boulevard evokes thoughts of historic Hollywood glamour and the '60s rock and drugs scene.
These days it's also a point of interest to political junkies: It's the spot where Adam Schiff's, Brad Sherman's and Ted Lieu's congressional districts meet.
The powers of the imperial presidency have been building long before Trump took office.
But the dangers are more apparent than ever.
Concerns about Trump's level of discernment have been appearing through a flood of leaks in Washington.
Don't say that we weren't warned.
In a September 2015 speech before the National Press Club in Washington, the Louisiana governor and Republican presidential candidate Bobby Jindal said:
Jared Kushner "enriched himself" by not revealing his ownership of a real estate tech business that raised millions of dollars while he served in the government, said a member of the House Judiciary Committee, calling it part of a pattern of unethical behavior that he believes should cause the White House Senior Adviser to be stripped of his security clearance.
On Thursday afternoon, the U.S. Geological Survey detected a 2.9 magnitude earthquake in North Korea near the vicinity of previous nuclear tests, raising concerns that Pyongyang has tested yet another nuclear weapon.
While the Pentagon has yet to confirm the cause of the tremor, the war of words between the President Donald Trump and the Kim Jong-Un regime has continued to heat up.
When Rep. Ted Lieu of California introduced his bill during the first week of the Trump presidency, it seemed mostly symbolic – a measure to require the president to seek congressional permission for a nuclear first strike.
Now, the issue is becoming more real and more urgent by the day as President Donald Trump keeps lobbing warmongering statements and tweets about North Korea – and as more doubts are raised about his fitness to be our commander in chief.